National Auctioneers Association

Linda M. Finch, director of design for Michael A. Shiff and Associates, Fort Lauderdale, is the first woman architect to be appointed to the Florida State Board of Architecture. During her term with the board, she will assist with examining new architectural candidates, conducting professional hearings, evaluating legislative issues affecting the building industry and recommending governmental policies on the regulation of architecture. Finch also serves as the first woman president of the Broward County Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

As South Florida's housing slump deepens, desperate sellers are turning to auctions as a way to peddle their properties. A California company today is auctioning roughly 100 foreclosed homes in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, with starting bids from $25,000 to $625,000. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people are expected to converge on the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort and Spa in Fort Lauderdale hoping to snap up a deal. All the properties are vacant, and some are in rough shape.

Wanda Brown has been trying to buy a house for some time, but without success. When she saw an advertisement for the Great South Florida Real Estate Auction on Saturday, the Plantation resident rushed over to the Broward County Convention Center to take her chances. She brought along a $2,500 registration and bidding fee and quickly set her sights on a three-bedroom, two-bath single-family home in the Breezeswept Park Estates in Plantation. A few others among the 2,000 who filled the Floridian ballroom also liked the property.

Real estate agent Clay Hyslop's client bought a two-bedroom condominium on Flagler Drive in 2005, but didn't spend much time there and needs to sell it. Easier said than done in today's housing market. "Sometimes there aren't buyers," Hyslop said this week. "It's like having the best lemonade stand in the middle of the desert." So Hyslop persuaded the seller to try something different: listing the West Palm Beach condo in a public auction Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

HOLLYWOOD -- Robert Glass Jr. once sold a water tower for the city of New Haven, Conn. It was advertised for months at $100,000, but Glass sold the tower for $351,000 to a man who wanted to build a house on top of it. That`s the beauty of an auction, said auctioneer Glass. It sells, fast and fair. "That was probably the most unusual auction we ever held. The city got that much money only because they decided to test the fair-market demand with an auction," he said. An auctioneer from Lake Worth, Dana Taynton, said he once auctioned 5,000 eyeglasses for a failed Miami business, making about $50,000 for the owner.

Wanda Brown has been trying to buy a house for some time, but without success. When she saw an advertisement for the Great South Florida Real Estate Auction on Saturday, the Plantation resident rushed over to the Broward County Convention Center to take her chances. She brought along a $2,500 registration and bidding fee and quickly set her sights on a three-bedroom, two-bath single family home in the Breezeswept Park Estates in Plantation. A few others among the 2,000 who filled the Floridian ballroom also liked the property.

As South Florida's housing slump deepens, desperate sellers are turning to auctions as a way to peddle their properties. A California company today is auctioning roughly 100 foreclosed homes in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, with starting bids from $25,000 to $625,000. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people are expected to converge on the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort and Spa in Fort Lauderdale hoping to snap up a deal. All the properties are vacant, and some are in rough shape.

Real estate agent Clay Hyslop's client bought a two-bedroom condominium on Flagler Drive in 2005, but didn't spend much time there and needs to sell it. Easier said than done in today's housing market. "Sometimes there aren't buyers," Hyslop said this week. "It's like having the best lemonade stand in the middle of the desert." So Hyslop persuaded the seller to try something different: listing the West Palm Beach condo in a public auction Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

The five-bedroom house in Davie with hurricane shutters, a pool and guest cottage went on the market last year for more than $1 million. It sat for six months with no takers. So the owner, Les Galex, decided to try something different. He hired an auctioneer. Boca Raton auctioneer Fred DeFalco and his team hosted three open houses, advertised in newspapers and mailed thousands of public-sale brochures. Seventeen bidders, each toting a $50,000 cashier's check, crammed into the family room of Galex's house on a scorching hot April day. In seconds, DeFalco worked the bidding to more than $900,000.

Bargain hunters are flocking to auctions, as tough times push more businesses into liquidation. Jay Sugarman, a consultant with J. Sugarman Auction Corp. in Miami Gardens, said the number of shoppers visiting auctions has increased at least 30 percent compared with the last few years. And even as inflation has raised the price of many goods nationwide, he said prices for equipment ranging from small plates to large machines sold at auction are down 10 to 15 percent. "The word auction is still very synonymous with bargain," Sugarman said.

Wanda Brown has been trying to buy a house for some time, but without success. When she saw an advertisement for the Great South Florida Real Estate Auction on Saturday, the Plantation resident rushed over to the Broward County Convention Center to take her chances. She brought along a $2,500 registration and bidding fee and quickly set her sights on a three-bedroom, two-bath single-family home in the Breezeswept Park Estates in Plantation. A few others among the 2,000 who filled the Floridian ballroom also liked the property.

Wanda Brown has been trying to buy a house for some time, but without success. When she saw an advertisement for the Great South Florida Real Estate Auction on Saturday, the Plantation resident rushed over to the Broward County Convention Center to take her chances. She brought along a $2,500 registration and bidding fee and quickly set her sights on a three-bedroom, two-bath single family home in the Breezeswept Park Estates in Plantation. A few others among the 2,000 who filled the Floridian ballroom also liked the property.

The five-bedroom house in Davie with hurricane shutters, a pool and guest cottage went on the market last year for more than $1 million. It sat for six months with no takers. So the owner, Les Galex, decided to try something different. He hired an auctioneer. Boca Raton auctioneer Fred DeFalco and his team hosted three open houses, advertised in newspapers and mailed thousands of public-sale brochures. Seventeen bidders, each toting a $50,000 cashier's check, crammed into the family room of Galex's house on a scorching hot April day. In seconds, DeFalco worked the bidding to more than $900,000.

HOLLYWOOD -- Robert Glass Jr. once sold a water tower for the city of New Haven, Conn. It was advertised for months at $100,000, but Glass sold the tower for $351,000 to a man who wanted to build a house on top of it. That`s the beauty of an auction, said auctioneer Glass. It sells, fast and fair. "That was probably the most unusual auction we ever held. The city got that much money only because they decided to test the fair-market demand with an auction," he said. An auctioneer from Lake Worth, Dana Taynton, said he once auctioned 5,000 eyeglasses for a failed Miami business, making about $50,000 for the owner.

Linda M. Finch, director of design for Michael A. Shiff and Associates, Fort Lauderdale, is the first woman architect to be appointed to the Florida State Board of Architecture. During her term with the board, she will assist with examining new architectural candidates, conducting professional hearings, evaluating legislative issues affecting the building industry and recommending governmental policies on the regulation of architecture. Finch also serves as the first woman president of the Broward County Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.